It's been a little Topsy Turvy here when I've been trying to write posts for Thursday. A couple went right into the trash and never saw the light of day. Another is still sitting in draft mode and I'm not sure that one will ever be published either... sigh. At any rate, those days have gone and today I'm working on new things and have a greater desire for peace in my world.
Last weekend while Jimmy was home, the neighbor and he got to talking about our connecting yards. It seems the person who lived here before us, wasn't a nice man at all. He made demands, he yelled, he didn't get along with anyone. So, when we moved in they were a bit on the quiet side at first. But you know me, I can't keep my mouth shut even in the best circumstances. I saw them outside one afternoon and promptly took myself over and said Hey, Hi, my name is Vickie. I think they may have been a little stunned at first, but we've become pretty good neighbors as the time has gone by and now we've even figured out how to repair/replace the wood panel fence between our yards without costing either family a big chunk o change, LOL!!
Back to this weekend ... there is a line of bushes/shrubs between the yards and Jimmy asked which side they belonged to. Turns out they are ours!! Evidently, the meanie who lived here got all up in the air about the split rail fence he was sure was on his side of the property, and demanded the neighbors take it down. They did, even though they were sure it was theirs since they had put it up. The bushes were on our side of the fence and the neighbors hadn't planted them so, I am now the very proud caretaker of five new to me Azalea plants.There are two more Azalea bushes on the front of the house between the steps to the deck and the house itself. These haven't begun to bloom yet, so I have no idea what color they will be. The last house had Azaleas and I wasn't overly thrilled with them. They were white and scrawny looking. No matter what I did, they didn't seem to improve. but these look like they are in very good shape.
I also found I have two Forsythia bushes.Now I have NO idea what Forsythia is like, what kind of care they require or anything.
BUT the bright yellow blossoms are simply gorgeous and I've seen some baby bumble bees darting in and out of the blooms.Speaking of bumble bees ...the ones here around the house are aggressive! Not to humans, or even the dogs, but to other bees and wasps. They are territorial and don't want any other bee types in their space. Has anyone else seen this before? This is again a new experience for me. This desert rat/city girl has no experience with these types of happenings, LOL!!
On Saturday afternoon, We took off and went to Lowe's. I wanted to see what plants were in stock and Jimmy needed a new shovel to begin some of the work in the yard he wants to do. On the way, we stopped by this nursery Tanya and I have been driving by on a somewhat regular basis. They have a sign out front that advertises local raw honey, so that was my goal for stopping...to see if they really had local raw honey.
However, I got sidetracked real quick! They had a new delivery of once a season rose bushes and they had my favorite one... Sterling Silver!I love these roses more than any other color I've ever seen, they have a light dusky lavender color and smell sweet but spicy at the same time. When Jimmy & I lived in Scottsdale, he bought me one that we planted in a large pot on the front landing of the condo. Sadly, it was among the things left when we moved away from AZ. He also bought me four dozen long-stemmed Sterling Silver roses for our fourth Valentine's together, our apartment in MD was heavenly, LOL! I can safely say these are my MOST favorite roses in all of the roses.Tanya is my go-to for roses and she has this knack for getting them to grow and keeping them healthy. So she bought a Sterling Silver for me and then chose one for herself that will have the deepest purple flowers I've ever seen in a rose. I can't wait for it to bloom and see what it smells like. She also bought this beautiful creamy colored one that she tells me will open up to have a very faint blush color in its center. This one is a little more mature and has already begun to bloom. Jimmy removed the older plants (actually they were two very small knock out rose bushes and a climbing rose and none of us like them, so they went to the neighbors), then cleaned out the bed. When he was satisfied
he had removed as many of the residual roots, he very carefully planted the 3 newest additions, gave them a healthy drink and said we should probably replace the mulch he shoveled into the wheelbarrow.
While driving all over the country Jimmy stops at various truck stops and travel plazas for fuel, food, to take his 30-minute break or in most cases to sleep for the 10 hours he's required to be off duty. On one of those breaks, he found a solar path light and promptly sent me a picture of it from his cell phone. Yeah, I giggled and wiggled and fell in love. It has a hummingbird on it! So, of course, he bought it and brought it home. I actually got it last week midweek when he was in the yard to have his trailer repaired. But after the small garden transformation, it looks absolutely perfect. I've also found the website for the people who sell them, have set up a wholesale account with them and will be ordering more of these cuties in the near future. There are six different designs and I can't wait to add them to my garden.Bored yet?? Yeah, I thought so, so I'm gonna stop here for this time. I have more about our outdoor space, but I'll write about that another time... Oh! That local raw honey I stopped to check on? I never did ask about it... LOL!
